I really hate that "I must start my diet on January 1st" resolution, so I've started this week. I've had a couple of fake-out starts to the diet, but I really started this week. BJ met me at my current weight just as I started dieting and I continued to lose weight gradually until we moved in together. Eating every night with him has done bad things to my weight. I've also become less active. Now I'm back to where I was when we met, and since I'd set the goal of never letting myself get bigger than I was when we met, I decided I'd better hop on the diet and exercise train. I refuse to be THAT WOMAN WHO GOT MARRIED AND THEN LET HERSELF GO. At least not 'til I'm like 90 or something. Then who cares.

I bought myself a couple of tools to help me keep on track. The first one is a mini trampoline. I love it. I can go really wild for a half an hour in front of the TV and get a great workout. I like it because it's quiet (so I can watch TV), small, and easy on these 45 year old joints. I also like the fact that I can take it out and put it away really easily. I vary between jogging, dancing and running so I know I'm getting some good aerobic exercise in.

I also bought a program for my computer that is FABULOUS. It's called BalanceLog. It gets a two thumbs up from me. I bought the version that I can put on my PDA and my computer. You can sync them together and even sync up with the web. So, no matter where you go, you can log what you're doing and eating. I've been religious about logging everything I eat, drink and do. I also logged my weight three times this week but I'll slow that down to once a week. I'm a bit obsessed with it right now.

The food database is HUGE. I rarely have to look anything up on the Internet. It supports lots of diets by showing how much of this or that (carbs, proteins, fats, calories, etc.) you've eaten so far, and how much you have left to eat for the rest of the day. Since lots of protein puts too much of a strain on my liver, I've decided to go the calorie route. I like the calorie route because I have a lot more choices and if I decide to make bad choices in the beginning of the day, I either don't get to eat so much at night or I'd better do some more exercise.

The exercise database is huge too. My personal favorite is the "personal leisure" category. I'll let you guess what's in that one. Let's just say BJ comes in handy if I'm out of calories and want a candy bar. EVERYBODY wins!

I like the fact that you can see your averages by day, week or month and that I will be able to look over my data (because I"m a data geek) and see how my food intake and exercise affects my weight loss. Really, that's a big duh, but it's more convincing when it stares at you in the face.

I've also decided to come out of the closet about this and make myself accountable every Friday on my blog. So, here's the week in review:

Exercise: 1/2 hour m-w-f on the trampoline
Water: At least 64 ounces every day
Calorie Average: 1261 per day
Weight Loss: 3 lbs.